Inside the Weekend Movies

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Cody Banks 2, Secret Window and Spartan.

By Brian Linder

Three new films open in wide release this weekend. Frankie Muniz is back as Cody Banks in Agent Cody Banks 2: Destination London, Johnny Depp and John Turturro star in the thriller Secret Window, and David Mamet's Spartan also opens.

The Scoop: Frankie Muniz returns as super cool spy Cody Banks in Agent Cody Banks 2: Destination London. In Cody's new adventure, a rogue CIA agent has stolen a top secret mind-control device and Cody has to go undercover in London to get it back. Posing as a student at an elite boarding school, Cody has to keep the other kids from discovering his true identity while infiltrating covert hideouts, spying on his sinister target &#Array; and going to class. With all-new gadgets, high-flying action, exciting chases, and a wisecracking new handler (Anthony Anderson), Cody's in a race against time &#Array; he has to retrieve the device before the world's leaders fall under the control of a diabolical villain.

The Scoop: Though he knows he should be at his computer writing another book, or at least walking his dog along the sparkling lake outside his dingy cabin, successful author Mort Rainey (Johnny Depp) is sleeping on his favorite sofa for up to 16 hours a day. He is in the midst of a painful divorce and everything about the breakup has turned messy and unpleasant. It has sapped his energy and siphoned away his creativity, leaving him with a monumental case of writer's block that renders him incapable of even stringing a simple sentence together.

Then, when it seems as if things can't possibly get worse, a psychotic stranger named John Shooter (John Turturro) shows up at his doorstep, accuses Rainey of plagiarizing his story and demands satisfaction. Despite Rainey's efforts to placate him, Shooter becomes increasingly insistent and hostile, intimating a twisted sort of justice that could include cold-blooded murder.

Forced into a mind-bending game of cat and mouse, Rainey discovers that he has more cunningness and gritty determination than he ever imagined. In the end, he realizes that elusive Shooter may know him better than he knows himself.

The Scoop: This is the story of special ops officer Robert Scott (Val Kilmer) and his prot&#Array;g&#Array; Curtis (Derek Luke) who are recruited to find the missing daughter of a high-ranking government official. Their mission seems to come to an abrupt conclusion when the media reports the girl's death &#Array; but Curtis believes the girl is in fact alive. If she is, there's a dangerous conspiracy at the highest levels.

Val Kilmer and Derek Luke in Spartan

Keep your browser set to IGN FilmForce this week for the latest on all these flicks and much more!